Friday, September 4, 2015

Mishaps do occur –
some are sudden, accidental, fortuitous.
A Ship, howsoever big it is could still suffer a setback by so many
perils, especially – the perils of the sea that includes collision, striking
submerged objects, running aground and sinking.

Collision is the
act of colliding; coming violently into
contact; crash. A collision is an isolated event in which two or more bodies
(colliding bodies) exert relatively strong forces on each other for a
relatively short time. Collisions involve forces and there is a change in
velocity. In traffic such a collision can be between two vehicles, a vehicle
and a person, a vehicle and an object, two persons or a person and an object
(and more if an animal is involved). It is an accident or even a disaster. In
Marine insurance , collision is a named peril in Inland transit basic cover and
‘Institute cargo clauses – C’.

For many of us, the
aluminium flying bird [aircraft] is a marvel with its complex design, its
flight and crossing distance with ease and speed. The primary factors in aircraftstructures are
strength, weight, and reliability. These factors determine therequirements to
be met by any material used to construct or repair the aircraft.Airframes have
to be strong and light in weight. The most common metals used inaircraft
construction are aluminum, magnesium, titanium, steel, and their alloys.

~- ~
You are given a slingshot to fire your angry birds at pigs who are placed
withindifferent variant structures (such as wood, ice and stone) which
progressively getharder and retrieve the eggs that those pesky pigs stole!....
as you advance, you getchance to use varied birds with special abilities. A
blue bird when clicked will splitinto 3 – there are birds which will explode –
some which can drop explosive eggs … It is the popular ‘Angry Birds’, a
strategy game developedby Finnish computer game developer Rovio Mobile – and
that is ‘bird hit !’

Even
though, large commercial aircrafts are certified to be able to withstand
theimpact of most, we often hear about bird-hits damaging planes. Birds
represent aserious threat at many airports. Not all cause serious damage to
aircraft hull.Bird strikes most often occur during take-offor landing, or during
low altitude flight, when an airplane is most likely to be sharingthe same
airspace as a bird.

We often read about
train accidents. Indian Railways have
now ordered an inquiry into the Bangalore-Nanded train accident in Ananatapur
district of Andhra Pradesh.A speeding granite-laden truck rammed into
Bangalore-Nanded Express train after breaking the closed gate at a level
crossing in Anantapur district in the early hours killing six persons and injuring two.Blaming
the truck driver for the mishap, the spokesperson said it was a manned level
crossing and the driver broke the level crossing gate and hit the train. In the 1st week of August, at least
29 people were feared dead when two
express trains derailed within minutes of each other during flash floods that
undermined tracks.Television images showed crumpled train coaches piled
together. Several were partially submerged in mud.One of the trains was on its
way to Mumbai when the accident happened in a remote area of the central Madhya
Pradesh state, while the other was travelling in the opposite direction.

Accidents are many
a times inevitable – but lot depends on safety mechanisms,the measure of rescue
efforts and the way they are sought to be avoided andnot repeated. Switzerland's rail system is considered among
the safest and most efficient in theworld, despite the country's challenging
terrain. Accidents are rare, although in2010 the popular Glacier Express
tourist train derailed in the Alps in southernSwitzerland, killing one person
and injuring 42 others.

Today’s
The Hindu reports that in a bizarre incident, a peahen crashed into a diesel
locomotive hauling the Coimbatore – Mayiladuthurai Jan Shatabdhi Express and
died inside the cabin even as the train was on the move on Wednesday morning
[26th Aug 15].

The
incident occurred in the Salem railway division between Pasur and Unjalur in
the Erode – Karur broad gauge section at 9.30 a.m.Railway sources said the
peahen crashed into the loco through the left side outlook glass that got
damaged causing tense moments to the loco pilot and assistant loco pilot.The
assistant loco pilot Karthick suffered bleeding injury on his forehead.
However, the train kept moving, the sources said.